Eton College's plans to convert Dorney barns into homes dismissed at appeal

A proposal by Eton College to convert barns into homes on land it owns near Dorney village has been dismissed at appeal.

The prestigious boarding school intended to refurbish and convert existing barns at Boveney Court Farm, including a Grade II-listed barn, into seven homes and potentially demolish an open-sided barn to build five additional new homes on farmland.

The South Buckinghamshire Area Planning Committee refused the plans in July last year, mainly for breaching the greenbelt.

The 12 residential units in the ancient Boveney hamlet would have comprised two two-bedroom, six three-bedroom and four four-bedroom homes, an attenuation pond, bin and cycle stores and car parking.

The National Planning Policy Framework was revised in December 2023, after the council refused the planning application, and the college lodged an appeal in February.

Planning inspector Mark Philpott said the proposal would have a ‘greater impact on the openness’ of the greenbelt than the existing development but maintained that the ‘harm to the openness’ would be moderate.

The original application to Buckinghamshire Council in 2022 was met with a flurry of objections from Dorney residents, who expressed concerns about the ecology and wildlife in the adjacent Dorney Common and the impact of overdevelopment on the area's character.

In his report published on Friday (August 30), Mr Philpott maintained that while the proposal would increase housing numbers in the hamlet, the two new ‘modestly sized’ residential buildings would ‘befit’ the character and appearance of the site and its surroundings.

“There would be limited impacts arising from activities generated by the proposed use. As such, the development would not be overly dense, or undermine the tranquillity of or otherwise urbanise Boveney,” he wrote.

He added: “The sum of the benefits delivered by the development would be considerable. However, this would be significantly and demonstrably outweighed by the likely harm to bats, which is determinative.”

Mr Philpott said he ‘cannot be sure’ the proposal on the Boveney site, which is based near a local wildlife site, would not have ‘unacceptable impacts’ on protected or important woodland and water species or habitats.

“I must take a precautionary approach and proceed on the basis that bats would be harmed by the development. Three derogation tests must be passed for a licence to be issued by Natural England,” he added.

“I therefore conclude that the proposal would likely have a harmful impact on bats, and it has not been demonstrated that the development would have an acceptable effect on protected and important species and habitats in other respects.”